Five people have been arrested in Cuba for acts of “vandalism” after a small group of protesters broke into a provincial office of the Cuban Communist Party and set fire to computers and furniture.
The incident, which also affected a pharmacy and another business, took place in the town of Morón, just over 500 kilometers east of Havana.
Videos shared on social media show protesters ransacking the office, removing documents, equipment and furniture and burning everything in the street. A smaller group also threw stones.
“What began peacefully, after an exchange with the area’s authorities, degenerated into vandalism against the headquarters of the municipal committee of the Communist Party,” said the state newspaper Invasor. He added that five people had been arrested.
Although protests are rare in Cuba, the country is enduring a US oil blockade and other intense pressure from US President Donald Trump, who has openly stated that he would like to see regime change in Havana.
Recently, people have started banging pots and pans at night on the street or at home to express their frustration and discontent over the shortage of food and medicine.
Residents also experience frequent power outages that can last up to 15 hours a day.
Independent media and social media posts say Havana is at the center of these recent nightly protests, but they are also spreading to other parts of the country.
On Friday, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel confirmed for the first time that he was holding talks with the US government.
Díaz-Canel stated that in the last three months no oil shipment has arrived in Cuba and blamed the United States oil blockade for this. He said the island is powered by a combination of natural gas, solar energy and thermoelectric plants.
Trump has said Cuba will be next on his agenda after the war with Iran and the U.S. overthrow of Cuba’s main ally, Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro, in January.
Cuba depended on Venezuela for oil and Trump, who says he effectively runs Caracas, has cut off the supply.
The oil embargo has brought Cuba’s already troubled economy to the brink of collapse.
The Republican leader has placed the impoverished island under a US oil blockade, strangling its fuel supply based on what he called the “extraordinary threat” that Cuba poses to the United States.
This comes on top of a six-decade-long U.S. trade embargo.
